The Pirelli 2017 calendar “conveys personality, sensitivity and the guts to be yourself”, Peter Lindbergh explained at the international press launch of the new calendar in Paris. The German photographer has called the creation “Emotional”, emphasizing how his aim was “not shoot a calendar about perfect bodies but to capture sensitivity and emotion, laying bare the souls of the women in the images, rendering them more naked that a nude.”

Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman and Helen Mirren are among a host of Hollywood stars who posed for Peter Lindbergh’s camera.

It follows Annie Leibovitz’s 2016 work for Pirelli, which featured women of all types from across the industry, including Tennis player Serena Williams, comedian Amy Schumer and artist Yoko Ono, in what was seen as a move away from Pirelli’s traditional collection of pin-ups.

The first Pirelli Calendar was published in 1963, and the publication has since featured many of cinema’s best-known performers. The calendar is traditionally published in a limited run for top Pirelli clients and the 2017 edition will be its 44th.

Thurman added, “I have two daughters and a son and it’s equally important I think for boys to see their mother ageing and being herself and not being uncomfortable with that, both my daughters are also going to grow up into women, well one of them is practically there, so I think it’s wonderful, it’s wonderful to see that sort of human empowerment opened up for that generation.”

It is the third time Lindbergh he has shot the calendar. Other subjects include Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, Julianne Moore and Robin Wright, with the photos taken in Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Le Touquet and New York.

“We are used to such spectacular images aren’t we, with such amazing locations and when you look at Vogue magazine or any magazine or the earlier Pirelli calendars, amazing locations and incredible lighting and airbrushing and so you have this amazing image, and here we’re going you know away from that and saying no let’s find the amazing in something that’s simple and human and real,” said Mirren.